Weather, people, cars, and clouds are all things that move. Perec was undoubtedly aware of the irony of this phrase, because it’s never true that nothing happens.

His intention, he wrote, “was to describe the rest instead: that which is generally not taken note of, that which is not noticed, that which has no importance: what happens when nothing happens other than the weather, people, cars, and clouds.” In the introduction to this piece, Perec briefly lists the normal points of interest in Place Saint Sulpice, like the district council building, a police station, and “a church on which Le Vau, Gittard, Oppenord, Servandoni, and Chalgrin have all worked.” By virtue of their identifiability, Perec was not interested in these. The hearse leaves, followed by a 204 and a green Mehari. Number of the bus that’s coming (I can infer from herĭisappointed look that she’s waiting for the 70) The list sounds incantatory, with shades of police blotter:Ī “Que sais-je?” truck: “La Collection ‘Que sais-je’ a réponse à tout (The ‘Que sais-je’ collection has an answer for everything)”įuneral wreaths are being brought out of the church.Ī 63, an 87, an 86, another 86, and a 96 go by.Īn old woman shades her eyes with her hand to make out the Visiting it from a series of cafes and one outdoor bench multiple times a day for a few days, he sat and listed everything he noticed.

In An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, he chose the Place Saint Sulpice, a large public plaza near the center of the city, as a place of study. Clearly a person intent on defamiliarizing the familiar, Perec once wrote a 300-page novel without using the letter “e.” For finding the infraordinary, too, he had his particular methods.

Saving Time by Jenny Odell